Bobby Webster Explains Raptors Trade Deadline Moves

The Toronto Raptors didn't go for a full teardown Thursday but began the next steps of reshaping their roster around Scottie Barnes and Toronto's young core

Were you expecting a whole new team?

It was a relatively quiet trade deadline for the Toronto Raptors, at least compared to what could have happened. The Raptors didn’t entirely overhaul the team, but a lot of the heavy lifting had already been dealt with earlier in the season.

Thursday was more about taking the next steps, bringing in Kelly Olynyk, Ochai Agbaji, and some added flexibility for the summer. Including the Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby trades from earlier this year, Toronto has traded away seven players from its opening-day roster and replaced them with six new faces who should better fit the timeline and skillsets need to build around Scottie Barnes.

“I think we traded eight players so far,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said Thursday following the trade deadline. “Sounds like some people would rather we trade 15, but we got a lot of work done and there's more moves to be done.”

Here are the biggest takeaways from Webster’s press conference

Keeping Bruce Brown?

Toronto had plenty of conversations involving Bruce Brown but the market didn’t bear many first-round picks Thursday. Only Toronto and the Dallas Mavericks dealt first-rounders and when the New York Knicks opted to go in another direction, Toronto’s options were thin.

“Had we gotten the offers we wanted for Bruce if it hit our threshold, we would have done something,” Webster said.

Bruce’s contract comes with some flexibility for Toronto with a $23 million team option for next season. The Raptors can still wait until the offseason to make a move when more first-round picks should be available.

“I also think if you look around the league today, there weren’t a ton of major moves. There may be some larger macro elements in the NBA contributing to teams going for it and making big deals,” Webster added.

Jazz Trade

Toronto sees Olynyk and Agbaji as players who should be able to fit the organization’s long-term agenda.

In Olynyk, 32, Toronto gets another Canadian-born player who wanted to play for the Raptors. He fits the young core as a floor-spacing center and the kind of big man Barnes hasn’t had a chance to play with in his career. While he’s older than the Raptors would like, the departures of Thad Young and Dennis Schröder left Toronto in need of another veteran on the team.

“I think the way we view him specifically is he's kind of like a steady hand and I think we've seen it with the bench units, especially with the bigs he's going to provide a skill set of a veteran presence,” Webster said. “So we're excited to have Kelly. The conversations have been great. I think he really wants to be here.”

Agbaji, 23, is a player Toronto has been keeping tabs on for a while. He’s just two years removed from being the No. 14 pick in the 2022 draft and the Raptors are hopeful he can develop into a two-way guard to join the organization’s more offensive-focused young core.

“Hard working, high character, two-way player, kind of fits the bill of guys we’ve pursued over the years,” Webster said of the 6-foot-5 Agbaji. “We feel like we’re getting a young player with a lot of upside, hard worker, high character, and so we’ll bet on those guys.”

Traded a 1st Round Pick?

Raptors president Masai Ujiri had made it clear the organization didn’t want to bring in three rookies this summer and Toronto didn’t see much value in having a late first-round pick and such an early second-round pick so close together. It made the decision to add Olynyk and Agbaji for their worst 2024 first-round pick an easy one.

“It’s hard to bring in that many kids into an environment, grow them the right way,” Webster said of owning all those first-round picks. “I think the thought of three or four of them felt like, hey, if we can cash in one of them now for someone like Ochai, who’s still young but early in his career, then you solidified one of those (picks).”

Gary Trent Jr.’s future?

Considering the Indiana Pacers only received three second-round picks for Buddy Heild, it’s hard to imagine Trent would have netted Toronto much in terms of trade assets had he been dealt.

Ultimately the Raptors opted to keep the 25-year-old Trent who has been among the league’s best shooters for nearly two months. While the rest of his game has struggled this season, Toronto still sees Trent as someone who can help space the floor around its young core moving forward.

To Convey or Not to Convey?

The Raptors didn’t exactly get worse Thursday, but it sounds like the organization is OK with whatever happens to that top-six protected pick they owe the San Antonio Spurs.

“We’re going to prioritize seeing this group play. If it ends up that we’re in the top six or out of the top six, especially the way that the new NBA rules are, to try and game that doesn’t make a ton of sense,” Webster said. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be the lottery balls.”

Open Roster Spots

By waiving Spencer Dinwiddie, who Toronto acquired from the Nets for Schröder, the Raptors now have two open roster spots to fill. At least one of those has to be filled at some point in the next few weeks.

“We want to play young guys … we've seen some Scottie at the point guard and hopefully we see more there, but it also does free up to roster spots for us to bring in some guys, take shots on some free agent, scout the G League, overseas,” Webster said.